for. "an sba lender will be able to make the loan with a guarantee that sba will be able to provide. we probably will about 225 sba loans this year. at any point in time, we have about 1500 loans in san francisco that are sba loans. a lot of them are restaurants because that is one of the areas that is very typical because it is a riskier business. but a lot of people in san francisco see that as an opportunity for them as well. we also partner with the golden gate restaurant association to help people understand how to do financing for restaurants. a lot of what we do is helping small businesses get access to credit. the sba loan program covers a range of small loans down to $25,000 and large loans up to $5 million, so it is a very wide range. can be used for a variety of uses -- debt refinancing,

building acquisition, working capital, so it can be used for a wide range of things from a small business point of view. as you heard, we do guarantees for about 90 or 100 banks in the country -- or in the bay area. about 3000 nationwide. there is a lot of lenders that do some sba lending. first thing you want to do is deal with the bank. if they are not able to make the loan by themselves, then go to our website, which is www. sba.gov, and look for the local page to see the local san francisco financing sources. but before you do that, the takeaway message here is that before you go to a bank, make sure you are cleared to do that. you do not want to go to a bank

looking for financing for your business and ask them a question that will immediately give them a sense that you are not ready. you go to a bank and say, "how much can i borrow?" they will tell you, "i do not know, but probably not from us." you need to know exactly what you're looking for, how you are going to use the money, and how you will be paid the bank. part of the process is make sure you are prepared. the first thing you need to do is take a advantage of the resources that can help you develop your business plan and really be prepared to go to a lender. being able to answer the questions you know that they will be asking is part of what we do as well. i'm sure we will have lots of time for questions, but i will send it back to you. >> director of the office of small business with the city and county of san francisco. again, i also want to thank congresswoman pelosi for hosting this event, and with her staff,

and her leadership around all the work she has done supporting small businesses. because she comes from san francisco, and, by our definition, is small business is a business with under 100 employees. that is almost 85% of all businesses in the city. because she is from here, she really understands what small businesses are about, and she articulates your needs in washington, d.c. in may 2008, san francisco opened the office of small business, under the leadership of gavin newsom, under the urging of our small business leaders. the mayor heard there was a need for the community to have a small office to help the needs of our small businesses in san francisco, help them understand and navigate the complex structure in getting a business opened within the city and

county of san francisco. initially, primarily, we were going to be about helping you understand licensing and permitting requirements, but, really, shortly after we open our doors, we understood that we were also, as a government entity, a place for people to come when they want to know about loans, about writing a business plan. where to go to do that, where to go to get assistance. we are also a resourced. when we do see people in our office, many of them are a year or two out from even opening their business, so we will ask them what their credits for is, have they done their business plans, do they know what they're capital needs are going to be, how much money they have, how much money they are going to need to open their business.

based upon those questions, we will direct them to the sba for workshops, courses. there is other entities that also provide workshop courses score as well in terms of helping to write business plans. also helping to educate the distinction between the micro lender, our bank, and our larger financial institutions and how those lending -- what is the difference in how this entities will lend, in addition to the sba loans that are available. also in response to the economic crisis, which hit a couple of months after we open our doors, the mayor reinstated the revolving loan fund, and we partnered with tmc working solutions, which is a micro lender, to provide a loan fund

for start of an existing businesses to help them. today, that loan has given out 23 loans, and they are averaging around $15,000 or $25,000 each. another unique thing that the city is doing in terms of helping our businesses and dealing with capital needs is as a city, sometimes, we implement regulations, and you would think that might require some substantial capital for small businesses to do an understanding that a lot of our very small businesses may not have the capital means to be able to implement those regulations. a new one that has just been implemented is there is the fats, oils, and greece requirements that restaurants are going to need to have for their restaurants, and many businesses may have to install new equipment -- fats, oils, and

grease. we parted with opportunity loan fund to help provide a specific program for this new regulation for businesses, and we have also had many businesses experience some drive-by lawsuits, and understanding some of the financial needs in dealing with the losses, making the 88 improvements. again, we partnered with opportunity loan funds to help businesses comply and to deal with their legal needs and with these losses. also, we held businesses understand, if you want to do business with the city and county of san francisco, while we do not regulate that, that is not within our office, but we hope you through the process,

and connect with the city agencies who are doing the programs, what we classify as an lbe, we are only able to classify as a small business, but not a minority or woman- owned business. to talk about what kind of contract you would be able to engage in, we also have a unique feature in that we hear some of the issues that businesses are experiencing and doing business with in san francisco, and so can help work with our policy makers, our legislature and the mayor's office to help change policy that will benefit small businesses as well. with that, i think i will turn it over to budget solutions, but just note that -- i mean, opportunity fund.

excuse me. but just know that our office, we are in city hall in the tax and treasurer's office, and our office is www.sfgov.org/osb. we have some information on that. if you did not get one of our small business booklets and you want one, please take my card, e-mail me, and we will mail you one as well. immigrate. thank you, regina. for those of you looking to >> hi, everybody. my name is carmen chu. why don't we get started.

with a marking up with the department of small business -- we have been working with the department of small business. this project started when we heard from neighborhood merchants. unfortunately, they had access issues, visibility access issues. we have been working closely with many of our partners year today to educate about these -- many of our partners year today to educate about these issues. also in terms of board guidance. i want to thank all of you for coming. many of you may have assistance. i know many merchants could not be here. please do it share this information with other merchants in the area. we have virginia from the office

of small business. we have roger from the bar association. no carla johnson from the office of disability. -- we have carla johnson from the office of disability. i want to especially it acknowledge my colleague to help us get the resources and brought legal expertise to the table. i do not want to take too much of your time. thank you for coming. >> thank you, supervisor chu. i want to express my admiration for a supervisor chu's commitment to you. so, from our office, what we heard, many small businesses

were receiving lawsuits regarding it the ada. tonight we will hear about the legal requirements, what has been in place. any small businesses that nderst informed as far as their obligations for the ada, there are the mechanisms to provide that information to you. so, we are tasked with providing the information. there have been about 300 small businesses that have received the lawsuits. knee individuals who use this mechanism and come up -- the individual to use this mechanism. while it is important to have ada access, but we want you to

understand there are individuals out there taking a look at your vulnerability. we have a packet of information for you tonight. we have it in english and chinese. we have a quick summary of the laws. the ada, calif. building code, the civil rights, and our experts here will elaborate. we also have a list of certified caps at work in san francisco for you. carla johnson with the mayor's office of disability has created a really good it died of out to interview your experts to make sure you are getting the best quality product for you. been next -- the money you pay

for the inspection you can take as a tax deduction. any money that if you have taken can be applied as a tax deduction. this can be done on an annual basis. next, the opportunity, and a fund -- opportunity loan fund, providing for small businesses to pay for the inspection or to make improvements needed. to do it before you receive the lawsuit. and lastly, we of the bar association and their resources. they're providing their legal service for you. this last thing i am going to

share with you in terms of what we have seen in our office is that with the individuals, that does not necessarily mean an individual will follow up with a lawsuit. what we've seen in our office is the individual's will send you a letter and say there were compile -- compliance issues. where people get in trouble is they ignore the letter. we need to make sure it that your pro-active and responsive. when a business receives a letter, they need to contact our office. the merchants of been very

proactive -- have been very pro- active. the businesses that have received a letter and passed an inspection after receiving the letter have staved off a lawsuit. the cap inspection is a very good risk management tool. often it is not as durable as you may think it to be. our office is there for you as our resources. we are able to provide our services, follow-up questions in english, spanish, cantonese, and mandarin. and then -- and then, roger, you will --

>> yes. i am an attorney in private practice. the laws in this area are strict compliance laws, and they are very specific. the federal law since 1990 indicates issues from 1998. all businesses, such as a grocery store, a dentist's office, restaurants, a doctor's office, virtually anything that a member of the public comes into the -- comes into needs to be a barrier-free. we will go over what barriers are. every public accommodation needs

to be wheelchair-accessible. there are also other other forf disability. most of the issues we are hearing about are wheelchair accessibility issues. there is a small group of private individuals who are wheelchair-down that go around the city and they look at small businesses. and i dare say anybody in small restaurants have some accessibility issues. it is another attempt at making your building wheelchair accessible. i am not sure which of you may be merchants and which it may be landlords. the law applies to both.

and that means you were 100% liable for any barriers to access and any damages that may be associated with those barriers. there are ways you can defend yourself. with your landlord or at senate -- or a tenant, this can avoid a lot of problems later on. the inspections offer a limited attempt at bringing a civil action for damages. it does not affect the ability to bring damage claims under the symbol laws. however, most lawyers -- they will not pursue the case.

so, oftentimes, it works it to stop the lawsuit before it starts if you do that inspection. they are not particularly expensive. so, it is something someone would want to do. you will get a tax credit. if you need to make changes in the structure of your premises, there are also tax credits for that. most of these cases start with a letter. a demand letter. that is usually signed not by a lawyer, but by it up plaintive. the plaintiff may not be a professional plaintiff. that does not make any difference.

the defense has been tried in court. is a civil rights statute. -- it is a civil rights statute. they can be a perfectly legitimate plaintiffs to bring a lawsuit, and there are a number of people who belong to disability organizations that actually, that is what their livelihood is, bringing these lawsuits. the gentleman over here, who was also a lawyer knows of at least one case involving two lawsuits. they started all neighborhoods. the target places like san francisco because this is an old city with old buildings, virtually none of which comply. we only have new construction that would be billed to 1988 compliance standards, usually.

whatever kind of business you have, the building part does not enforce ada compliance. you have your architect look at the ada if you are going to make a major revision anyway. is very expensive to do that. the demand letter is a requirment for the state -- is a requirement for the state laws to be brought. for civil rights cases, you are expected to know the law and be in compliance. they do not make a demand under federal law saying they should ask you for damages. and the damages could be substantial.

the damages are based on the number of barriers encountered by the person when they're going to inspect the premises. these people will come and visit your business barack, three, or four times. they will sit at the counter if you have a counter. they will sit at a table. that are well aware of what the legal requirements are of the height of the table and the length of the legs, whether the bathroom is compliance, whether there is appropriate sign it. the first barrier is access to the premises itself. adding is? . -- adding steps. having a ramp that is too steep is an access issue. there are ways to deal with

those. having a power door or something of that nature. of power door -- you have seen those with the wheelchair symbol on it. it will open the door. the person on the wheelchair does not have to try to wrestle with the door to get in. it is much more immediate access if you of something like that. that is the first barrier to someone, if they are entering a business premises. the next issue is usually in bathrooms. a lot * -- a lot of times, but is difficult to comply with depending on the size of the establishment. to make a wheelchair-accessible

bathroom, it takes a lot more space than a regular bathroom. so, it is a problem oftentimes with small businesses. especially if you have to do two of them. and it cost about $15,000 to $25,000 to build a wheelchair- accessible bathroom. for restaurants, bars, it's a truck, there is an issue on the height of the counters -- for restaurants, bars, at such wreck, there is an issue on the height of the counters. that keller would make the person wheeling up on in the chair not be able to be eye level. you cannot have it like that. you have to have a portion of

the counter down level. it is 34 inches. i daresay most of the counters will not be that size if you have a business like that. however it may be. that is not what the normal business layout is. tables. there is a percentage based on the number of seats that have to be wheelchair-a accessible. they are required to be appropriately designated with a placard. you can get that any press run supply store. in place with commercial interiors can furnish you with those placards. you also have to have a sign out front that your business is wheelchair accessible. and various signing issues.

each one of those things you do not have if someone must use to you is a separate claim. the statutory damages are $4,000. a person can come back three times and see three different wheelchair-accessibility issues, that is nine claims. the attorneys' fees are only recoverable -- only the plaintiff has the ability to get the attorneys' fees. if you fight a lawsuit and win, you do not get attorneys' fees. is a one-sided statute. the policy is to promote access. one of the issues for a merchant to look at is your least. virtually every commercial lease, what ever the business maybe come up switches to the

tenants all responsibility for code compliance. what that means is coming you have to indemnify the landlord on the insurance or the least, or any money that the landlord may have a. clearly, the landlord -- the lease does not stop the plaintiff from suing the landlord. therefore, the attorney for the plaintiff is going to target the person they are getting the money from. it does not let the tenant of the hot. the tenants in their lease is contractually responsible to the landlord. there are ways that can be dealt with between the landlord and the tenant. i have represented landlords. i have represented tenants. at some point, i represented

both because they have a common interest even in that. obviously, they both have to make the space accessible either now or later, so it is best that they work together if they can. and work together to save us -- to hire a single lawyer. they can make repairs or what ever is in their agreement. sometimes, when the tenant is the small business and does not have much cash flow, one way to do is to renegotiate the lease, where the cost is amortized over a longer period time. it is another way to spread the payments back to the less financially available person. would you do if you get one of these notices? if you have not had your property inspected already